How Long Does it Take Ultimate Rewards to Transfer?

Transferable points are points you earn from a credit card that you can transfer to many different types of airline miles or other points. They are valuable because they give you so much flexibility. Each airline program has strengths and weaknesses in terms of the number of miles you need and the availability from point A to point B. Collecting transferable points ensures that no matter where you decide to go, you can always transfer your points to the type of airline miles that is best for the award you want.

Since award space can be a scarce resource, it is important to note that not all transferrable points transfer to their partners instantaneously.

This is the first post of a four part series going over how long it takes each type of transferrable point to transfer to its partners. Today’s post is about the transfer times between Ultimate Rewards and each of its seven airline partners and four hotel partners.

Ultimate Rewards Transfer Times

Ultimate Rewards transfer to almost all the airline partners instantaneously except for Singapore. People report different spans of time for how long it took their Ultimate Rewards to hit their KrisFlyer account after initiating a transfer. Many say within a day, others two days. I haven’t seen many people report it taking any longer than two.

Putting Awards on Hold

Of course, the transfer times above are what you will almost always see, but occasionally there may be a mishap with a transfer and you’re left waiting in limbo. These cases are not common, but if it happens to you, here are some tips about how to put Ultimate Reward’s transfer partners awards on hold.

United

United allows you to pay to hold an award via their FareLock option. Price depends on the award but is generally anywhere from $10 to $30.

Singapore doesn’t “officially” allow holds, but supposedly it is possible to put a Singapore award on hold for free. Some say you have to have 50% of the required mileage already in your account, others say 30%, and others have reported needing none. I think this is a case of YMMV. If you don’t get a good agent, call back until you find one that will hold your award.

Flying Blue is known for holding awards for free for up to 48 hours, but this is also going to depend on the agent. If you don’t like what you hear, hang up and call again.

Korean Air, Virgin Atlantic

Award holds are allowed for free with Korean Air and Virgin Atlantic, no tricks or tips needed! You can put a Virgin Atlantic award on hold for 48 hours. Korean Air awards can be held for longer, weeks and maybe even months for awards flying their own planes.

Bottom Line

Luckily there isn’t lag time with the majority of Ultimate Rewards’ airline transfer partners. You may have to wait a bit for hotel points to hit your account, but hotel award space is not usually as scarce a resource as airline award space so that shouldn’t be a problem.

Editorial Disclaimer: The editorial content is not provided or commissioned by the credit card issuers. Opinions expressed here are author’s alone, not those of the credit card issuers, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the credit card issuers.

The comments section below is not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser’s responsibility to ensure all questions are answered.

Sarah Page Maxwell became a miles nerd after moving her base to Buenos Aires and beginning a transient lifestyle that would be otherwise too expensive without miles and points. In addition to travel, her other passions include hot sauce, yoga, and her boston terrier Omar.

[…] When I found the award space, we were all so shocked that we wanted to book it right away. I knew the transfer time between Ultimate Rewards and Singapore isn’t always instantaneous. Transfers can take up to two business days, and I had found the […]

[…] The same award space is bookable with Singapore miles, and Singapore wouldn’t charge any close-in booking fee. But it would cost 12,500 miles and they would have to be transferred from Ultimate Rewards to Singapore, which on average can take up to two business days. […]

[…] The same award space is bookable with Singapore miles, and Singapore wouldn’t charge any close-in booking fee. But it would cost 12,500 miles and they would have to be transferred from Ultimate Rewards to Singapore, which on average can take up to two business days. […]

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Editorial Disclosure

Content is not provided or commissioned by the credit card issuers. Opinions expressed here are author’s alone, not those of the credit card issuers, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the credit card issuers. These responses are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser’s responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered. For more information or to see the MileValue Privacy Policy, click here.

Sarah Page Maxwell is a miles aficionado and avid traveler, born in Virginia, raised in North Carolina, and currently based in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She has earned and redeemed millions of miles for herself and others. Traveling for free, the 29-year-old has been to 20+ countries, making sure to catch as many sunsets in each that she can.

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Many of the credit card offers that appear on this site are from credit card companies from which MileValue.com receives compensation if you are approved. Compensation impacts placement of cards on the credit card page and banner placement, but does not on the articles posted on MileValue.com. This site does not include all credit card offers available in the marketplace.

Many of the credit card offers that appear on this site are from credit card companies from which MileValue.com receives compensation if you are approved. Compensation impacts placement of cards on the credit card page and banner placement, but does not on the articles posted on MileValue.com. This site does not include all credit card offers available in the marketplace.